Child Life Specialist Utah Valley

Intermountain Health•Intermountain Health Utah Valley Hospital, UT

8d•$24 - $38•Onsite

About The Position

The Child Life Specialist interacts directly with pediatric patients, families, and other health team members, facilitating age-appropriate interactions and activities to make the health care experience easier for patients and families. The role reduces patient and family distress, supports effective coping, fosters patient independence, and promotes optimum development. It also provides supervision to volunteers, child life pre-internship students, and child life assistants. The position is primarily based at Utah Valley Hospital and may float to other Intermountain Hospitals in American Fork, Riverton, or Primary Children's Lehi to provide coverage. Utah Valley responsibilities include on-call coverage for Imaging, Sedation, and Infusion; availability to pick up open Emergency Department shifts; and supporting children of adult consults. The schedule is variable throughout the week, including days, afternoons, and evenings, and requires one weekend shift each week.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution; degree will be verified.
Documentation of a successfully completed 600-hour internship supervised by a Child Life Specialist.
Child Life Certification from the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP), with documentation, or eligibility for certification with certification to be obtained within 15 months of hire.
Experience with pediatric patients in a medical, hospital, or behavioral health setting.
Experience with Child Life Core Competencies, including establishing supportive relationships; meeting child and family needs with attention to social, emotional, and cognitive development; educating and communicating with children, families, and team members; providing coping support and comfort management; guiding therapeutic play; and ongoing assessment and written documentation of clinical care.
Computer experience with word processing, spreadsheets, databases, or similar applications.
Communication, relationship-building, initiative, critical thinking, teamwork, growth mindset, accountability, training and mentoring, and documentation skills.
Ability to meet the physical requirements of the position, including communication and hearing, vision and reading, manual dexterity, lifting and transferring patients or supplies, bending, carrying, and standing for extended periods.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree.
Registered Behavior Technician credential or behavioral health experience.
Experience working with Autism and related disabilities or behavioral challenges.
One year of experience with pediatric patients in a medical, hospital, or behavioral health setting.
Work experience as a child life assistant.
Experience as a child life pre-internship or practicum student.
Experience supervising volunteers working with children and adolescents.
Spanish speaking.
Previous Child Life experience in an Emergency Department, bereavement support, or trauma.

Responsibilities

Assess, prioritize, and document pediatric patient and family care accurately.
Develop, implement, and evaluate effective pediatric patient- and family-centered health care plans.
Provide developmentally appropriate education, psychological procedural preparation, coping support, comfort management, and play opportunities to pediatric patients and families.
Participate in the selection, supervision, and training of new hires, students, and volunteers.
Provide education for staff, such as in-services and newsletter articles.
Assist with community outreach and Foundation partnerships.
Adhere to the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP) Child Life Code of Ethics and meet child life department expectations.
Provide on-call coverage for Imaging, Sedation, and Infusion; be available to pick up open Emergency Department shifts; and support children of adult consults.
Float to other Intermountain Hospitals as needed to provide coverage.